In a class of her own

Emmons Gym Dogs' lone senior

Posted: Thursday, December 16, 2004

By Anthony Dasheranthony.dasher@onlineathens.com

Georgia gymnast Michelle Emmons says she doesn't feel old, and at 21, she has a few years to go before qualifying for social security. But when she looks around the Gym Dogs' practice facility in the Ramsey Center, the team's lone senior can't help but feel her age.

"Sometimes I do. This is definitely a different experience for me," Emmons said. "I'm definitely the oldest, and there are a lot of responsibilities that come with that, which I'm still having to get used to doing."

Leadership, is one.

With six freshmen and four sophomores on Georgia's 11-woman squad, Emmons and junior Brittany Smith are the only upperclassmen. Cory Fritzinger, Chelsa Byrd, Marline Stephens, Kinsey Rowe, Sierra Sapunar and Loren Simpson, last year's seniors, are gone.

"People don't realize that not only did we lose six seniors who graduated, but we lost three juniors, two (Jamie Ackerman and Marie Fjordholm) to chronic injuries and one (Ashley Miller) who I didn't renew her scholarship, so there's a hole right in the middle of our lineup," she said. "It's staring us right in the face."

Emmons, however, isn't worried about not having any veteran help.

In addition to Smith, sophomores Kelsey Ericksen and Ashley Kupets were key contributors for the 2004 SEC champs, and Emmons expects the strong freshman class of Katie Heenan, Samantha Sheehan, Nikki Childs, Megan Dowlen and Audrey Bowers to quickly adapt to collegiate competition. Sophomore Brittany Thome and Courtney Pratt, who redshirted her freshman year, make up the rest of the squad, which lost Adrienne Dishman to a season-ending Achilles tendon injury last month.

"If I had to pick one attribute that stands out about this freshman class, it would have to be their incredible work ethic," Emmons said. "I don't know if I've seen an entire group of girls work as hard as they do."

Emmons has apparently worked hard herself. Yoculan said Emmons lost approximately 10 pounds in the offseason and is in the best shape of her collegiate career. Ericksen has certainly noticed the change.

"Michelle looks great," she said. "You can tell she's going to have to a great senior year. We're going to be depending on her a lot."

Emmons enjoyed a solid junior season, tying for sixth on the floor at the SEC Championships with a 9.925 after back-to-back 9.95s during the regular season against Kentucky and Arkansas. Yoculan is expecting even more from the Houston native this season, which begins with the Super Six Challenge at Florida on Jan. 7.

"Michelle is better than she's ever been," Yoculan said. "She's doing a new vault and has a new beam dismount. She looks awesome and her consistency level is really high right now."

Emmons said it's all about coming of age. While many senior gymnasts begin breaking down and longing for the days their careers are over, Emmons believes she's just now hitting her stride.

"I'm doing better than I ever have since before college, and I don't really know why," Emmons said. "I've just done my best to stay in shape, and everything just seems to have come together. Everything seems a lot easier now."

Emmons said she's also grown wise in her old age.

"I'm able to rely on my age and experience more than ever before," she said. "It's all about knowing yourself better and what you need to do to get done.

"For example, when I first got here I thought I had to take 50 turns to do something before I got it right. The older you get, you realize your body knows what to do. You've just got to be there mentally and know you can do whatever you try."

Emmons

Michelle Emmons file

CLASS: Senior

HEIGHT: 5 foot

HOMETOWN: Houston, Tex.

MAJOR: Manageman Information Systems

EVENTS: Vault, floor, beam

NOTES: Tied for sixth on floor at the SEC

Championships with a 9.925. ... Scored back-to-back 9.95s on floor against Kentucky and Arkansas. ... Emmons is expected to again be a regular at leadoff on beam, a position she has held with the Gym Dogs for the better part of three years.